Stripping Away the Armor
by Allorra Triana
Summary: She comes to him almost sobbing, her lies finally having made her almost insane. She doesn't expect forgiveness, or even the love she can feel radiating between them. And suddenly, Quinn thinks that he was the right one all along.
1. Daddy

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their proper owners.

A/N: No Lucy storyline in this, because I hated that storyline so much I almost broke my television. First Quill fanfiction ever, and this is so AU that it's almost ridiculous. The fic does explain itself, so no worries.

She had lied. She had lied to Finn, to Puck. To everyone. But now she needed to tell someone, anyone.

So Quinn walked up to Will Schuester's apartment, knocking weakly on the door. She was terrified of what she was about to do. It was like breaking down the walls of the Hoover Dam. She was screwed and she knew she'd drown but she needed that. She needed to dispose of this numbness that had possessed her for all of this year.

"Hey Quinn, what can I do for you?" He asked and leaned on his door frame. He was smiling. He was smiling _that_ smile.

"Can I come in?" she asked softly. He nodded and led her to the couch, where she sat down and took a shaky breath. Before he could ask what was wrong, she thrust a picture into his hands. He looked at it and his gaze softened with sympathy.

"It's Beth, you must miss her terribly," he said seriously. Quinn felt her eyes well up with tears.

"I do. She has her father's eyes," she smiled bitterly. Will squinted at the picture.

"I hate to contradict you Quinn, but Puck has brown eyes," he said. Quinn nodded.

"I _know_ Puck has brown eyes," she looked Will directly in his eyes. Suddenly Will went pale.

"She has...green-gray eyes," he said hoarsely. Quinn nodded, Beth had the same color eyes as the ones she stared into now.

"She does,"

"She has...my eyes," Will whispered. He looked like he was going to throw up.

"Yes,"

"But...why? Why did you let Puck think?" he was interrupted.

"To protect you. If anyone found out, we'd both be screwed. Puck had gotten me drunk and slept with me just before you impregnated me. I guess your sperms won the race to Beth. It was all too perfect," Quinn sighed. Will looked like he was about to cry.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he murmured. Quinn didn't respond, just looked at the floor.

"Why?" he repeated.

"I was scared. I was _really_ scared. I still am," she said, tears falling down her face.

"So, if I had never found out about Terri, the baby that she took from you to fake as ours would actually have been mine," Will muttered. Quinn looked at him, _that_ was the first thing that came to his head?

"I...am a father," Will sighed. Quinn finally glared at him.

"I've been keeping this secret for over a year now. Well over a year. I needed to tell someone, and I chose _you_. My mistake, you're making everything worse," Quinn muttered. She stood up but Will took her hand.

"Thank you," he said, tears forming in his eyes. Quinn's walls broke and she sunk to the floor, silent sobs wracking her tiny frame.

"I should've told you sooner. I should've..." Quinn said in between gasps for air. Will pulled her gently to her feet and looked her in the eyes.

"Quinn, you told me now. And that's...that's all that matters. It's summer now. We've got three months to talk this over and get comfortable with this situation," Will said, blinking the tears out of his eyes.

"You're the father of my daughter," Quinn sobbed, cocking her head to the side, looking at Will with a certain helplessness that stirred feelings in him that he hadn't experienced since the night they created Beth.

"Yes...and we'll get through this," he said. Quinn nodded, wiping the tears off of her face. Quinn bit her lip.

"I feel so broken," she murmured. Will's heart sank.

"You'll fix yourself," he assured her. Quinn couldn't look him in the eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, then decided against speaking and closed it. Then she took an unsteady breath and opened her mouth once more.

"Can I...can I stay here tonight?" she asked, trembling all over. Will knew he should probably say no. But he'd just learned that he'd been the father of her child and she was so scared.

"Of course you can Quinn," he replied.

"You can have anything you ask for," he murmured under his breath.

It was true. The effect she had on him, he didn't think he could deny her anything. That was probably part of the reason he slept with her in the first place. He was scared of these feelings he had for her, but he had an obligation to her now.

Quinn was half-asleep in the guest bed. She was weary from crying but the smallest part of her was glad that she told him. Because right before he led her to the guest room, he'd given her a smile that said that he was happy to be a father. Doing this had made her feelings of adoration for him resurface, and they made her feel light and happy, at least they would after she was down crashing and drowning in misery and fear.


	2. Comfortable Silence

Will couldn't sleep that night. He just couldn't. He just had a _bombshell_ dropped on him, how could he sleep? Will ran his hands through his hair. Fuck. He was a _father_. He was the father of a _student's_ baby. He felt like his entire world was crumbling. He felt like throwing something at the wall and screaming.

But then Will remembered Quinn. Quinn, who'd been put through hell and back. Quinn, who was the sweetest girl he knew, she just kept trying to put up a cold and bitchy front. Her world had been crumbling since the day she found out she was pregnant. How could Will feel sorry for himself when Quinn had been through so much more? He hadn't even been there for her at the birth. Well, granted, he didn't even know it was his daughter back then.

"I'd do it all again. It's senior year but I'd get pregnant with your kid again if it meant doing it right this time," Quinn told him softly over breakfast.

"Quinn, you shouldn't say stuff like that. I'm...I'm your teacher," He looked at her with a mix of pity, scolding and mourning. Quinn sighed, a sound that made Will's heart break.

"I know. But I just messed up in _every way_ possible. I'm a total screw up, a bitch and a _slut_," Quinn breathed. Will's jaw tensed.

"You're not any of those! One or two mistakes doesn't make you any of those things. Quinn, you are a good person," he insisted. Quinn silently picked at her eggs.

"That's not what Finn thought when I told him I was pregnant, or what he thought when I told him Puck was the father. That's not was Puck was saying when I gave away Beth," Quinn finally muttered. Will shook his head.

"Those guys don't care about you. They're just high school kids. They can't see you for who you really are," Will told her. Quinn finally met his gaze, looking into the eyes that also belonged to their daughter.

"Do you see me for who I really am?" Quinn asked. Will swallowed his bite of bacon.

"I...do. I see you," Will said slowly. He _did_ see the real her. And once he'd seen enough of the real her to fall in love and sleep with one of his students. But that feeling...that _phase_ was history. All he had left for Quinn were compassion, kindness, stability and other purely platonic emotions.

"The birth would've been so much better if you were there. Puck would not shut up and it was just awful. Beth was the best part. And back then I was still wishing I could call her Drizzle," Quinn said, offering a small smile.

"I would've been bawling like a baby though," Will laughed. Quinn smiled for real then.

"That's still better than Puck. He freaked out when I started to crown," Quinn rolled her eyes. Will laughed; man, the hell Quinn had been put through when she was with Puck.

"Does Puck have any respect for a woman?" Will asked. Quinn joined him in his laughter.

"No! None at all. He's the worst!" Quinn laughed. Their laughter slowly died down and Quinn picked up a piece of bacon.

"It's my favorite. And you cooked it perfectly, crispy and not too fatty," Quinn said, biting into it delicately.

"Terri liked her bacon rare and fatty. It disgusted me. Now, I can cook bacon my way," Will smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"Bacon that isn't crispy is _not_ bacon," Quinn agreed.

Later that afternoon, Quinn stood in his bathroom, staring at her reflection. She placed her hands over her stomach, like she did when she was pregnant. Will came and leaned against the doorframe.

"I should go," Quinn realized. She smiled and then walked past him to leave. He gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She turned around to face him.

"You...could stay. Maybe just until dinner?" He offered, feeling obliged to take care of her. She looked at him and realized that maybe the gap between them wasn't as big as she'd thought.

"Alright. I'll stay," she said. Will smiled and they walked back into the living room, letting comfortable silence hang over them.

Will looked at Quinn and suddenly, he wanted her to stay even more than just a few hours.


End file.
